The Auteur's Selection In the Shadow of After the Bawl: Cult Guide

Dir: William A. Seiter

Harry Elrod takes a job as a bellboy when he is disinherited by his uncle and fails in his efforts to elope with actress Kitty Clyde.

Dir: William A. Seiter

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Why Divorce? perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

A young couple quarrel and make-up and quarrel again and it is here where they determine to save the scandal of divorce by placing a white tape through the house to divide it into two parts, each section of which will be exclusively sacred to the other. In the meantime, an almost invisible Cupid hovers about trying to placate them and a little Mephisto with a pitchfork tries to prod the couple along to more troubles.

Dir: William A. Seiter

Young Southerners Buck Hineman and Remington Osbury both are in love with the same woman, who promises to marry the one who returns when the Civil War breaks out. On the battlefield, Remington is wounded and left for dead, and Buck returns to marry her. Shortly afterward, Remington returns and contents himself with becoming one of the Hineman family. Years pass and Buck's daughter Luzelle finds herself wooed by two young men, Philip Burwood and Boyd Savely, whose families have been enemies for years. Luzelle's rejected suitor, Boyd, robs the Hineman bank, opens the strongbox containing Mrs. Hineman's papers and tampers with a letter written to her years before congratulating her on the birth of her daughter. The letter, sent to General Buck Hineman on the occasion of his daughter's marriage to Philip, gives the impression by the obliteration of a word that Remington is Luzelle's father. The wedding is halted and a duel between the two old men arranged. Each shoots in the air and realizes that neither wants to kill the other. Soon after, the robbery is discovered and the two old friends are reconciled.

Dir: William A. Seiter

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The Kentucky Colonel perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

A newly married couple decide to spend their first Sunday at home. Mr. Newlywed boasts to his office associates of his wife's cooking and they immediately invite themselves for a Sunday dinner. Some friends of his wife decide to make their first Sunday at home anything but a quiet one. They advertise in the papers for a cook, giving the Newlywed's address, with the result that many applicants call for the position. Their cook, thinking that she is to be fired, packs her grip and in a huff leaves them. Nothing is left for the Newlyweds now but to cook their own dinner. The antics in the kitchen and the resulting dinner which is served to their guests are very funny. In the end they all proceed to a lunch counter where they eat a hearty meal.

Dir: William A. Seiter

Margie Carr, the only daughter of wealthy Tom "Old Top" Carr, becomes determined to aid the less fortunate following an inspirational commencement speech at her college graduation. She establishes the Cheer Society and hires a ruffian named Bubbs as her secretary, along with three of his comrades. Her jilted fiancé, Homer Dean Chadwick, retaliates by founding a charity for impoverished chorus girls, and sparks Margie's jealousy when she sees him in the company of a former chorine named Flossy. Following a disastrous social event, which included Bubbs and his friends as guests, Margie realizes the folly of her endeavor and agrees to marry Homer.

Dir: William A. Seiter

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Their Day of Rest perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Fanchon Browne promises to marry elderly Peter Armitage to extricate Nethercote, her guardian, from financial difficulties. Before meeting him, however, she meets an attractive young man in the woods and persuades her friend Lilah to vamp the old man. Lilah, however, vamps the wrong Armitage, who turns out not only to be the nephew of the elder Armitage but also the young man with whom Fanchon is involved. Meanwhile, Fanchon's aunt falls in love with the elder Armitage, and Tony, a prizefighter, who adores Lilah, presses his suit. Fanchon borrows money from old Peter's safe to aid young Peter in speculation; when the safe is reported robbed, young Armitage is accused, but guilt is fixed on the butler. Thus, Fanchon is free to marry Armitage, Jr., and her aunt accepts Armitage, Sr.

Dir: William A. Seiter

Alice, an energetic vixen, lives in a country estate with her gouty uncle, who denies her any companions. She plagues him with pranks until he leaves the estate. Now free to seek adventure, she dresses as a maid and convinces a passer-by, Richard Comstock, a celebrated author, that the estate is a boardinghouse. She has the servants pose as distinguished guests. The uncle returns and spoils the spoof. Later she meets Richard at the hunt club ball, which Galloping Dick, a gentleman burglar, also attends, in a strictly professional capacity. When jewels are discovered missing, Alice, thinking Richard is the thief, hides him in the cellar, where they run into Galloping Dick's accomplice. Alice and Richard are at first denounced as thieves, but the actual culprits are apprehended.

Dir: William A. Seiter

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The Foolish Age perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: William A. Seiter

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: William A. Seiter

Billy Barton a bank teller, shoulders the blame for a cash shortage for which Fred Kingston, a fellow employee, is responsible and is sentenced to prison. On his way there, the train is wrecked and he escapes. In the town of Culterton, he meets and falls in love with Mary Spivins, the bank president's daughter, and charms the populace by playing the mouth organ. He obtains work as a farmhand with Silas Harkins, taking the farm mule as wages. When Spivins orders Harkins arrested for assault, Billy learns it was a kick from the mule that laid out Spivins. At the bank he finds Spivins bound while Fred and the clerk are robbing the safe; Billy is locked in the safe, and all efforts to save him prove futile until the wall is kicked out by the mule. Through the efforts of Willie Spivins, the bank is dynamited, but all ends happily.